OFFICIAL Minnesota Twins 2009 Season Thread (87-76)---> AL CENTRAL CHAMPS! Great season guys.

[djaman]

Originally Posted by JPZx

Alright...we're encountering a 6-game set of games here of which I think we SHOULD win 5 at least. In fact, it'd be a disappointment in my mind if we won any less than 5.

Tuesday, August 11th
Nick Blackburn (8-6, 3.79 ERA) .vs. Kyle Davis (3-8, 6.37 ERA)
Wednesday, August 12th
Francisco Liriano (4-11, 5.63 ERA) .vs. Brian Bannister (7-8, 3.97 ERA)
Thursday, August 13th
Anthony Swarzak (3-5, 5.44 ERA) .vs. Gil Meche (4-9, 4.50 ERA)

I will be in attendance on Wednesday

....dollar-a-dog night ftw

I have to watch Liriano though?

...

We always play well against the Royals, especially at the Dome. I see a sweep here and the considering the fact that the Tigers and White Sox both dropped another .5 game today, I see us being around 1.5-2.0 games behind the division leader by the time we finish up the Sunday's game vs Cleveland. Let's get it

EDIT: Starting pitchers in the title everyday (if I can)? Or is it too jumbled now?

I like the positive outlook. I will say that Kansas City has actually played us really well too in the past season and a half. This won't be an easyseries. I pray for a pitching revelation from the staff.

 

[jpzx]

Grudzielanek cut by the way.

I know he was over the hill, but I still was hoping to see him come up and display whatever talent he had left. He actually sent a text saying, "Theywasted my time" today

In some way, I agree with him

...might as well have brought him up andseen what he could do for a few games at least. He really couldn't have been any worse than Punto and Casilla hitting-wise.

 

[jpzx]

Sickening.

 

[RyGuy45]

Now lost 6 of their last 7 series...

Here are the runs the team has given up in their last 20 losses

5
14
8
10
2
8
13
11
11
11
6
6
16
15
5
8
6
4
10
11

And the clincher...this was KC's first 3-game series win against an AL team since.....................May1-3.

You CANNOT make it up. Just one of those years...

We're all in for a treat though this winter....you know, when the front office says "a lot of our players had down years and we were still right therenearly till the end. We don't need to make any moves, we think these players will bounce back next year."

Mauer back up to .370

plus 4 more RBIs

Punto on a 3-25 start to August

Yup keep playin this guy every day thisyear and next year.

 

[kiddin like jason]

Pavano.

Tell me somebody else caught that.

 

[kix4kix]

Always next year, the twins NEED to make a move for a pitcher and a second baseman if we start next season with our current Pstaff and Punto I will throw up.

 

[sfn 155]

I'm a little surprised the Twins actually got Kyle Gibson signed.

 

[RyGuy45]

^ Agreed. The could be getting a steal though!

Man....old news but it just stinks how the team is blowing this season with their two best players basically having career years.

44 games still left and you already got these numbers:

Mauer
358 AB, 23 HR, 74 RBI, 71 R, .380 BA, .446 OBP, .637 SLG

Morneau
443 AB, 28 HR, 94 RBI, 79 R, .298 BA, .386 OBP, .555 SLG


And in the field they have combined for 5 total errors all year.

As we now have learned.....it's the pitching stupid.

 

[jpzx]

When Detroit loses today, we'll be 4.5 GB from the division leading Tigers and 1.5 GB from the second-place White Sox.....I'm not getting up any hopebut we've won 4 of our last 5 and if we keep playing good baseball down the stretch we could make some noise

....of course though, this is the Twins and as soon as we start playing wellwe'll get swept by a sub .500 squad or something.

Cuddyer and Pavano today

...

Look at this

[h3]Liriano out longer, but Bonser may return[/h3]Twins optimistic that rehabbing righty could be back in fold

By Rustin Dodd / MLB.com

08/23/09 2:06 PM ET

KANSAS CITY -- There might finally be some good news about the Twins' starting rotation.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday that injured pitcher Francisco Liriano could be out longer than 15 days, but -- and here's the good news -- starter Boof Bonser could possibly return to the Twins' staff in September.

Bonser, who had surgery in April to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder, is rehabbing in Florida and progressing rather quickly, Gardenhire said.

"They're telling me he's doing really good," Gardenhire said. "He's champing at the bit."

Bonser was previously thought to be done for the season, and the Twins are still being cautious with his rehabilitation process, but at the very least -- there's good news coming from Florida.

This comes after a week filled with more bad news about Liriano. The Twins put Liriano on the 15-day disabled list last week with a tired arm.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Liriano just needed rest, but it now appears that Liriano's rest period could run longer than a 15-day DL stint.

Gardenhire said the club would know more once they returned to Minnesota on Monday.

"I don't know," Gardenhire said, when asked if Liriano could be out longer than 15 days. "I imagine, but we'll see. We'll give him a break here for a little bit, and then see if he can come back and bounce back."

Liriano will be checked out by doctors upon return to Minnesota, and the Twins will then have a clearer timetable on Liriano's return. Gardenhire also hasn't ruled out the possibility of sending Liriano to the bullpen when -- and if -- he is able to return.

Rustin Dodd is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


Link

 

[nnarum]

but Bonser may return

 

[jpzx]

^ You honestly don't think he's better than the guys we've been having trot out to the mounds lately?

 

[nnarum]

Originally Posted by JPZx

^ You honestly don't think he's better than the guys we've been having trot out to the mounds lately?

No. He's more of the same.

 

[dland24]

Hey guys. You clearly watch the Twins a whole lot more than I do. Do I have a chance of winning my preseason over 82.5 wins bet??

 

[nnarum]

To be honest, I see them winning 20-21 games at most... And that would put you right at 82... It's going to be close. I'm not going to tell you yes orno.

 

[kix4kix]

The next week is huge, the Twins have to capitalize on the relatively weak schedule they have compared to the Sox/Tigers.

 

[jpzx]

I'm not getting my hopes up. The whole "relatively weak schedule this week" thing is something I heard two weeks ago and the Twins ended up going2-4 in that week vs the Royals and the Indians

Oct. 4, 4PM record prediction: 81-81

This is just a .500 ball club guys. Nothing better, nothing worse.

 

[sfn 155]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/t...i8cyaiUqCP:iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

[h1]Patrick Reusse: Twins are forced to deal in the now
[/h1]

Their presence in a winnable division kills the opportunity to procure prospects for the long run.

The Chicago White Sox played an early game in Yankee Stadium on Saturday. They managed one hit, a Jim Thome double, off the Yankees' devastating big-market tandem of Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin and lost 10-0.

Detroit had a late-afternoon slot and was at home against Tampa Bay. The Rays had been reminded a day earlier that winning costs too much when lefthander Scott Kazmir was traded to the Angels. No matter. The Tigers managed six singles and lost 3-1.

The Twins had opportunity twisting through the Dome's revolving doors on Saturday evening. They responded with three singles, a scratch double and the first shutout loss since May 5 -- 3-0 to the Texas Rangers.

Thus, the White Sox, the Twins and the Tigers, the Three Stooges of the American League Central race, managed as they are by Ozzie, Gardy and Smoky, had charged onto big-league ballfields and combined for one run, 11 hits and 13 total bases in 27 half-innings on Saturday.

This left things as they were -- the Tigers by 4 1/2 games over the Twins and five ahead of the Mighty Whiteys.

The guy we should feel sorry for in all of this is Bill Smith, the Twins general manager. He had a team that's not .500 (64-65) and by all rights should have spent the past few weeks moving a couple of veterans and adding some warm bodies to the minor league workforce.

Unfortunately for Smith, he has been victimized by geography. The Twins have been forced to act as shoppers rather than being able to give in to their mediocrity and spend the last one-third of the schedule reconnoitering for next spring.

Located elsewhere in the American League, the Twins would be trailing the Yankees by 17 games in the East, the Angels by 13 in the West and Boston by 11 games in the wild-card standings.

Those are the deficits a team is supposed to face when it has five incumbent starters ages 24 to 27 to open a new season, they all go backwards and three do so

This is the also-ran status a team should attain when the solid middle of its 2008 infield becomes a vacuum, when the slugger brought in to fill third base has the same number of injuries as home runs, and it turns out you have one too few quality outfielders rather than one too many.

Back in February, it was accepted as fact that the Twins' No. 1 problem for 2009 would be the bullpen. Six months later, they found veteran assistance with righthander Jon Rauch and lefthander Ron Mahay.

They arrived on Saturday, the second and third pitchers added this month following the July 31 trade for shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

Smith should have been in a similar mode to Cleveland's Mark Shapiro -- looking to the future rather than the present -- on that date, which was the nonwaiver trade deadline.

What happened to poor Billy is that Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer stayed so productive in the middle of the lineup that the Twins were unable to collapse completely.

Still, all it would have taken was a nice two-week hot streak from the Tigers or the White Sox, and the Twins could have started auditions for 2010.

There was no such streak. The Tigers and White Sox remained in neutral. Smith was trapped. He had to try.

First, the Twins brought in Cabrera from Oakland for infielder Tyler Ladendorf, a second-round draft choice in 2008. Cabrera helped immediately.

A week later, Smith acquired starter Carl Pavano from Cleveland for a player that turned out to be pitcher Yohan Pino. Pavano helped immediately.

The Twins started a road trip in mid-August that could have buried them. They went 5-2, then came home to win another series.

Now what? Smith's new deadline was Aug. 31 -- the date a player must be in an organization to play in the postseason. Smith beat that with the two relievers.

Mahay came as a free agent. Arizona will get a prospect for Rauch, and perhaps one rated higher than Ladendorf (No. 2s are supposed to become big-leaguers) or Pino (projected as a big-league starter).

Poor Mr. Smith ... stuck raiding his farm system to assist a mediocre ballclub. Life could've been so much easier without the generosity of geography.

This is satire....right?

 

[nnarum]

Wow...

 

[jpzx]

 

[nnarum]

Originally Posted by JPZx

Exactly. I have no words. It was another W, then the wheels came off... Hopefully the Tribe can come through to save us tonight...

BTW, span is 10-21 (.476) off Buehrle now

 

[jpzx]

Interesting...

We are 4.0 GB (might be 4.5 or 3.5 depending on if the Tigers win/lose tonight) with a three-game set Fri-Sun vs the Tigers at the Metrodome.

Not getting my hopes up. But lets just see what happens.

 

[sfn 155]

even if the tigers fall flat on their face and the twins pass them, the twins wouldn't stand a chance in the playoffs

 

[jpzx]

LETS GOO

 

[king beef]

Twins are going to pull it off.

 

[jpzx]

CUDDYER!

[Jigsaw/] GAME OVERRRRRRRRRRRR [/Jigsaw]